Journal Suggestion Tools
- Journal/Author Name Estimator (BioSemantics Group, Erasmus University Medical Center)
- PubMed PubReMiner - Analyze PubMed results by journal
- Elsevier JournalFinder
- Springer Nature Journal Suggester
- Taylor & Francis Journal Suggester
Journal Evaluation Tools
- Scholarly Communication Toolkit: Evaluating Journals (ACRL)
- Scholarly Publishing Information Hub (Vanderbilt University Medical Center)
- Think, Check, Submit - Choose the right journal for your research.
Journal Directories
- Nurse, Author & Editor (Directory of Nursing Journals)
- Directory of Open Access Journals
Is this journal peer-reviewed (refereed)?
It is not always easy to answer this question.
UlrichsWeb [Harvard access required] is a tool which can help determine if a particular journal is peer-reviewed. UlrichsWeb uses the term refereed, which is interchangeable with peer-reviewed. Please note: This information (whether or not a journal is peer-reviewed) is provided by the publishers to UlrichsWeb and there is no verification process.
You can Ask Us! to search UlrichsWeb for you. If you have Harvard privileges, you could also do your own search. When searching for the journal in UlrichsWeb, the "Refereed" symbol 
will display next to the journal name in search results to indicate it is peer-reviewed.
You can also limit your searches in some databases to only retrieve results in peer-reviewed journals. Specific instructions by database are below.
PubMed
When searching PubMed, you cannot limit a search to peer-reviewed journals. Most journals indexed for PubMed are peer-reviewed, but peer review criteria and reviewer qualifications vary. Also, articles deposited in PubMed Central to satisfy the NIH Open Access requirement are in PubMed regardless of whether or not the journal is indexed for PubMed. Check a journal's editorial information or ask the publisher about policy for specific journal titles.
Ovid Medline
When searching Ovid Medline, you cannot limit a search to peer-reviewed journals. Most journals indexed for Medline are peer-reviewed, but peer review criteria and reviewer qualifications vary. Check a journal's editorial information or ask the publisher about policy for specific journal titles.
CINAHL
To limit your search to peer-reviewed journals in CINAHL, check off Peer Reviewed under "Limit your results" which will be directly below the search bar.
PsycINFO
To limit to peer-reviewed journals in PsycINFO, after you've done your search, click Additional Limits (below the search box), then Edit Limits. From the “Publication Types” list, chose "0110 peer-reviewed journal."
Is the journal indexed in Medline?
- List of Journals Indexed for Medline (National Library of Medicine)
- List of Journals Selectively Indexed for Medline (National Library of Medicine) - Life-science journals that focus on non-medical topics, but which publish occasional articles related to medicine or biomedicine.
- Journal Selection for Medline - Fact sheet from National Library of Medicine describing how the decision to index a medical or biomedical journal in Medline is made.
Most, but not all, articles in PubMed are in journals indexed for Medline. The important exception is when an article is added to PubMed Central (PMC) to comply with NIH Public Access Policy (for NIH grant recipients). In these cases, you will see these articles in PubMed when the journal itself is not otherwise in Medline and likely not peer-reviewed. Follow this link to learn how MEDLINE, PubMed and PMC are different.
